Helping the poor: For these four boys, their hard work bears fruit [and vegetables]

Four young men have started an initiative of selling subsidised commodities and bear the loss themselves.

KARACHI:

As the week comes to an end and many look forward to a relaxing weekend, four Punjab Chowrangi residents have a much more gruelling task at hand.

Working six days a week, the four boys spend their Saturday night in the Subzi Mandi - setting off at midnight and returning around five hours later, completely exhausted. However, their time is not spent at a secret fruit party, rather, they spend the night haggling and bargaining with the vendors.



As inflation continues at almost uncontrolled levels and prices rise alarmingly, these young men have decided to take it upon themselves to provide some much needed relief to the poor. On Saturday night, they set off for the Subzi Mandi and when they return, with a wagon full of fruits and vegetables, they are up to Rs80,000 lighter.

They then unload the fruits and vegetables themselves and lay it on carts, carts that they borrow from the 'thelay walay' of the adjoining areas. At around 9am, they open for business, selling the commodities at Subzi Mandi prices, sometimes adding a couple of rupees in order to cover travel and fuel expenses in a bid to not impact their pockets drastically.

While they often fail to break even and sometimes even incur losses of as much as Rs8,000 in a week, the boys are determined to ensure that the losses come out of their own pockets. "A lot of people are now offering to help us but we want to keep it amongst ourselves as we don't want to be accountable to anyone," said Kamran Niazi, the man who initially thought of the idea.

"When we started off, there were a lot of sceptics," recalls Kamran. "People said we won't be able to continue, they said it requires a lot of effort and we are just going out on a whim. However, today [Sunday] was the 11th week and, if anything, the initiative is increasing in size. We started off by saving up Rs50,000 amongst the four of us but now we get almost Rs80,000 worth of commodities and our relatives also loan us money, which we promptly return after Sunday's sale."

The subsidy is especially helpful for the neighbouring slums of Delhi Colony, Punjab Colony and Chandio Village but the boys insist that everyone is welcome. "Considering the high prices, even middle class people are struggling to make ends meet and we want to help them as well," added Kamran.  "By selling commodities at a cheaper rate, we are able to help the middle class without making them feel as if we are giving them charity."

While the initiative is operating without having fulfilled the required legal formalities, Kamran knows that if they are to continue in the long run, they would need a permit and may also need to register themselves as an organisation. "We hope to make this permanent and will therefore be looking at what we need to do in order to make it so," he said.

The boys know that it is vital to keep their feet on the ground and ignore the hype that now surrounds their project. "Before we think of expanding, we must plan and ensure that we cater to the needs of those for whom we started this," said Khalid Niazi, one of the founders of the initiative, before echoing Kamran's words and insisting that they want to continue on their own rather than be helped by any political or non-governmental organisation.

While it is not until late on Sunday that the weekend begins for these boys, when they do eventually fall into an uninterrupted sleep in the afternoon, they do so content in the knowledge that their hard work is bearing fruit, both literal and figurative.

Their due praise

However, the efforts of the boys have not been in vain. The customers are aware of their effort and are thankful for their help. “Thanks to these boys, we are able to save as much as Rs5,000 per month,” said Ansar Malik, an electrician who lives in Punjab Colony. “I stumbled upon their stalls by chance when they started nearly three months ago. Ever since then, I have been coming back every week to buy fruits and vegetables. Thanks to them, people who could hardly afford a single meal can now eat twice a day.”

As its popularity grows, the initiative has not gone unnoticed, with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Khurram Sher Zaman visiting the bazaar yesterday. “What these boys are doing is extremely commendable,” he said. “This kind of initiative should be started in other parts of the city as well. If they need the help of my party in any way, we are there for them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2014.